Please share views on the growing trend of diamond dealers investing in colored gemstones.
Not surprising given the impact of created diamonds and their effect on natural diamond worth.
Also people are shying away from Diamonds because of money. The HYPE of Diamonds is no longer working on people as it has for many years. Many are moving towards colored gemstones.
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I have 200 gems weighing in at 1,000+ carats all tested as Moissanite.
Certification done on those which were not clearly Moissanite but after verification done.
As to options not a clue.
I have no customers.
Not even tried to sell.
I wanted to acquire and test auction results for my own choice.
I would never buy anything from eBay.
After results.
Be cautious in buying online.
High probability you are buying Moissanite loose gems on average 35%+ lab created.
Many glass which are pretty useless but make great samples for store window displays you never need to remove.
The natural selection is even harder to find especially with Tourmaline miners dying, reduced availability globally. Price has only increased. If 6+ carat or above expect carat per carat to reach nearly $2,900+ per carat retail minimum. Price spike. Ammonite is $140 carat is insane. I have 5,000 carats I will hold inventory for 3 years and wait.
My Moissanite range of colors from clear, red, orange, Pink, blue, green, yellow range within are vast.
Probably never sell them since I am a hobbyist not in business.
Unless I obtain property in Hawaii then will build an artist loft to make jewelry in Hawaii.
32 months and counting. I found a home ocean views under $600,000 with commercial space under home.
3 bedroom 3.5 baths for under $600,000 in Hawaii prices are down in Hawaii and Northern California.
If wanting property in high risk regions prices are falling. Look or buy. In 32 months I am buying.
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I apologize if this is off topic, but can I ask how one can best have tested a big quantity of gems like yours? I would imagine there was some sort of price break versus a per-stone testing. Any suggestions you have on this would be much appreciated. To be sure, I am curious about whether there are labs who test for identification and/or confirmation of the types of stones being tested, versus a formal certification for the purposes of a sale. I am not in the trade so I am looking for the former for a bunch of stones if such tests exits. Any suggestions would be most welcome. Thanks!
I have found that most jewelry stores will identifying faceted stones for you for a small fee. I would go into your local jewelry store and ask.
Best regards,
Daniel
Never apologize.
1st reduce costs saves you in end is always a good thing.
2nd test yourself before submitting for certification can weed out glass gems and since 30% of what is available is glass this prevents further wasting of your money.
3rd put into catagory of gem type.
Color, sized, measured, weight, all important but in end must validate if natural or synthetic gem.
Most gems are synthetic for sale. Try to avoid. Impossible to prevent. All I acquired were listed as natural on auction or listed for sale as natural gem. Except 65% were synthetic gems. 65 out of every 100 synthetic or glass. 35 out of every 100 were natural but were improperly labeled as type. All had as best as they could identify however using tester I paid $500 puts testing at best option in my case. I then can identify range of type. Typically range consists of 3 various types of gem within ranges of conductivity/scaled metering upon contact with gem. Careful with Moissanite highly conductive with electrical currents. Get shocked easily when using current. Been shocked repeatedly while testing small gems. Natural was my choice but few actually were. Probably had been better if they said they were synthetic Moissanite at least those were honest and cheaper.
I posted results to sellers and few gave back portion of purchase due various reasons they stated. I bought for my research. No customers. I am a disabled veteran living on disability with limited income irritating.
However my Retirement occurs in 32 months and then I can make choices after.
If I sell some of the items prior fine. No customers and no idea how to sell. Few tell me I must learn more. Been researching and no not a professional dealer by any stretch of my imagination. Industry is full of liars.
I am not willing to sell gens for less than I paid. I will break them apart for other lead glass lamp projects in my 3rd eye.
Glass blowing is my idea for creating vibrant color inside using gems for creating various glass items. Glass blowers love gem powders. Even if synthetic gems made similar chemical properties similarly cause same reactive results. Bronze lamps with stained glass use gem stones to create glass panels for creating lead glass panels in creative designs. I research historical process of patented designs and cross reference materials to mimic exactly how previously made only by doing so can we match accurate results in creation of past successes.
GIA charges $70 per gem if up to 5
If more gems rates are reduced by volume.
I can not afford to submit all to be certified.
agree that one must be extremely cautious buying anything on line. No market for moissanite except for high end costume jewelry, sorry that you have such a large stash of it that is difficult to get rid of…the natural diamond market is on a down cycle. US middle class buyers are going for cheaper synthetics. The Chinese are going on a gold buying spree and have slowed natural diamond sales in that market. Colored stones are also under pressure from synthetics, expect that the trend will continue as synthetics continue to improve…
don’t kid yourself about prime real estate in Hawaii with an ocean view… houses there still 1 million+ for modest homes…could get a condo for 750K… I know, I used to live there and still own property there… the only relatively cheap land for building housing is on the Big Island in places exposed to volcanic hazard…
Cash strapped, inflation hit, middleclass US consumers are shifting towards lower cost synthetics, driving down the price of the market as a whole, including natural. Changing demographics are making synthetics more acceptable… Diamond marketing has always been a lot of hype. The US market became saturated a while ago. De beers was successful in creating a market in Japan during the 1970’s and 1980’s… then started intensive marketing in China. The Chinese are buying gold now, not so much diamonds…The far east market still treasures jade and pearls more than diamonds… the production of synthetics on an industrial scale coupled with a reduction in global natural diamond demand is depressing the overall market. I was surpized with the prices of greater than one ct. intense yellow fancies at Cartier’s being 20K per ct. with stones up to 3 ct…thought that they would be a lot more… Mass consumer interest in colored stones go towards cheaper semiprecious and now, synthetics… will not be surprized if precious colored stones also will peak in price and start dropping.
Hawaii cheaper land options come with high risk of volcanic activity hence reason being cheap. Not having kids Ido not need to leave something behind. In ocean view Hawaii the prices are reasonable but yea like you said the volcano is big issue for most. Not for myself. I have no kids. Found a home in Ocean View $900,000 huge with ocean views from side to side. Yes you live under volcano but high risk. On opposite side land is cheaper on wet side away from Hilo to eastern views full of growth but fire dangers abound. Building options modular homes are viable in my budget range.
Keeping my California home.
Want a home in northern tip of Hawaii not southern but the houses from a year ago have come down. Not a great deal but moving lower to my budget range.
I want 5+ acres with house already on lot.
If I find fine. If not buy land and then buy modular sections as needed as I save up for each addition. Gem market had some really great buys hence reason I bought 5,000 carats of ammonite paid $225.
Moissonite never pay above $20 a gem.
Standard rule of synthetic gems in wholesale. If greater let others buy it.
I can create plenty with what options I have.
just a note on natural moissonite: I made a comment once that moissanite does not exist in nature. I was corrected by a professional gemologist who stated that it was found in the Canyon Diablo meterorite. technically speaking, carbonaeous chondrite meterorites are extra terrestrial, and cannot be considered an earth process. Since then, natural moissonite as microscopic crystals have been found created by deep geologic processes…found in ultramafic xenoliths from the base of the continental lithosphere, and as inclusions in diamonds… both species require a high concentration of carbon to form and at depths of 100 to 150km or deeper for the requisite temperature and pressure. I was also corrected about cubic zirconia being solely man made. microscopic crystals have been found as inclusions in zircorn… baddeleyite which is dispersed in mafic under silica saturated can transform from monoclinic into cubic when incorporated into zircon upon contact with a more silica rich environment, under high temperature and pressure conditions. Both natural moissanite and natural cubic zircornia are very rare and do not form crystals large enough to become gems.
Correct on all counts and is why I know with clarity the gems I obtained are synthetic lab created Moissanite since I submitted a sample for certification and those I was uncertain of came back as lab created specifically Moissanite all the rest which
Match similarly with substitute options in various color options in a wide array of color options. I have found more so far around 200 gens matches criteria for Moissanite. At $922 carat retail price sizes range from under 1 carat up to 24+ carats in size. Any color shown is made and identified as Moissanite. Wide array of colors. They mimic natural colors however due brightness and clarity cannot possibly be natural occurrence due clear light penetration into gems.
retail moissanite should not go for more than 20 USD per ct. with colored a little more… all of the colors and sparkle look artificial… best to unload the entire lot if you can to a wholesaler…if anyone would be interested at all… looks also like Cz, which is even cheaper. Good luck with it…
So far as Hawaiian real estate is concerned, you might find something at Hawi at the northern tip of Kohala…5 acres is a lot of land for anywhere in Hawaii… If you are not aware, land in Hawaii is at a premium due to large land holding companies, the State of Hawaii, and old sugar planter family estates owning much of the land. In addition, more land is set aside for the Hawaiian homesteads. What land is available on the Big Island in the Kona to Kamuela area has been quietly bought up by Marc Benioff, the tech billionaire CEO of Salesforce.com…Larry Ellison, the former CEO of Oracle bought the entire island of Lanai. Mark Zuckerberg of Meta, bought up 1,500 acres on the north shore of Kauai… Silicon valley billionaires are moving in… land for sale is disappearing…Oahu and Honolulu is unliveable. there are a million registered cars on the island… one continuous traffic jam with no where to go. Cost of living is 80% to 100% higher than the mainland average. People are just scraping by with incomes of 90 to 100K per year.
De Beers pulled off the BEST marketing scheme of ALL time when they cornered the market on Dimond mining. They made it out that Diamonds were RARE, and convinced the public that “TO SHOW YOUR LOVE, MEANS A DIAMOND”. Because THEY controlled the flow of them on the market. That is why I (even as a hobbyist collector) don’t mess with Diamonds. BUT. Learning about all the “lab created gemstones” out there, makes me question whether my collection is worth $100,0000 or just $1.00 dollar. With over 400 stones, it will cost me THOUSANDS to have each one checked as to whether it is real (natural) or lab created. Doubting if this hobby is worth continuing. Am I doing something that is WORTH SOMETHING, or just collecting Aquarium fill ?
L.W.McQueary /aka/ oldtroll57 at g mail dot com /.
Tested using presidium duo tester II all tested in moissanite/diamond instantly.
Of those clear submitted came back Moissanite Diamond by GIA rated as such.
Why after consulting GIA they felt all were Moissanite. Willing to test all but unaffordable for me.
Cost even with discount on 1,000 gems is still a high amount of cost.
I paid no more than $20 per gem.
All came in as Moissanite after testing with my Presidium II, then used my Reflectometer, and other microscopes acquired.
Yes selling price to others $20 per carat is wise choice. And I am willing to do so.
Not found any customers yet.
1 gem is Fusia color dark pink 24+ carat.
I paid $20 if I sell for $480 I will turn a profit per gem. Retail price per gem per carat is $922 per carat and I have no doubt someone will get amount for them. Just not me. I suck at sales.
Retail price on these gems starts at $460 per carat up to 1 carat, after 8+ carats $922 per carat weight.
Gem pricing guide helps me figure out whether worth selling anything.
Certain gems are not worth selling.
If I turn a mediocre profit all is well.
I just started doing this.
I bought 10,000 bulk loose gems from multiple desperate sellers over seas and all were offering deals. I had to stop buying.
Still getting offers to buy more.
I have 16 trays of this type of gem stones in multiple other types, shapes, sizes, cuts and colors. Never thought so much existed. My spouse laid claim to about 1 tray which is now designated my spouses tray and not for sale for any price. Ruby, sapphires, emeralds, typical WTF reaction by others.
A lot of gems.
35% turned out real out of 10,000 gems that’s 3,500 gems. Still not bad.
Spent $20,000 on everything. Limit was set by my calculations available to risk.
Just weighed a 19 carat orange sapphire.
After weighing now just need to find buyer.
Not many looking to buy this crap.
That is ok by me.
I have a bag of ‘goodies’ willing to sell.
If I find anyone willing to pay $20 a carat I would accept in a heart beat if I get certification on each one that’s $70 per gem.
Price triples if I have to certify everything.
Pain in the backside going to GIA. Security is brutal. Never be early or late. Parking spaces are assigned. I had no issues parking or getting in it took over an hour to get 20 miles. Headache came upon transferring gems to GIA they examined every detail precisely. I am thrilled with service and quality they provide. However the bill was expensive at $3,500 for certification of 30 gems. 5 were glass and not fit to be submitted. I did not have testing equipment at time they were submitted. Get the tester! $500 will save you lot. My tester prevents me from submitting glass or other crapola. Synthetic gems set price starts at $70 carat to certify. Regardless of weight.
Bulk submission discounts apply but be prepared for costly bill.
Moissanite per gem is $70 regardless of size unless bulk submission.
100+ gems you can obtain significantly less per gem charge.
Until I have the $7,000 I need to test and certify everything not doing more certifications. Need to sell certified gems already done first. I am not retail. I do not want to be retail. I have no desire to do retail ever again in my life. I hated being in retail.
If I can find someone who wants what I have for $20 a carat in a freaking heart beat.
1,000 carats of Moissanite at $20 carat I would break even. I want to break even. This is a hobby not a career for me.
Diamonds are forever, diamonds are a girls best friend… etc… marketing, marketing… De Beers at one time was at risk of losing control, with the Argyll mine in Australia producing a huge quantity of diamonds. At that time, more than a couple of decades ago, De Beers and the Australians struck a deal to corner the market. De Beers had at one time, in the 1980’s 90% of the market… Today they control less than 40%… steady erosion by Canadian, Russian diamond producers and the Australians pulling out of the cartel plus the explosion in synthetics are finally pulling the market into supply and demand. Diamonds are particularly rare as a traditional “precious stone”…As a hobbyist jeweler, I refused to buy diamonds due to fraud perpetrated on the market by Chinese synthetics back in the 1990’s- 2000… The Chinese had gone so far as to brand their synthetics with the “De Beers” inscription on the girdle. Also at that time, the GIA has not yet come up with a way of determining synthetic versus natural… now it’s possible by identiying characteristic inclusions and defects, internal growth patterns in synthetics…however, synthetics are also continuing to get better… If you do have a collection of diamonds, you will need a microscope with magnification up to 40X, start looking at the GIA website pages on how to tell natural from synthetic, and current synthesis techniques to determine which in your collection is natural, suspicious or synthetic. I have the same qualms about colored stones now also… hydrothermally grown precious stones mimic natural processes and are improving. Same story with synthetic diamonds…I also never bought blue topaz… blue is still cheap as it’s irradiated colorless… for blue stones, I stuck to Tanzanite and aquamarine…
Every word truth. Irritating 
but true.
Have to add that the Puna area, where the Leilani subdivision was buried by a lava flow in 2018/19 by the Kilauea eruption has a 100% chance of being buried within one’s lifetime. The long period of no eruptions there was an anomaly. The Puu O’o vent which had been in continuous eruption for over 35 years, shunted the magma away from the East Rift Zone…The normal pattern of a summit eruption, followed by an East Rift Zone eruption was re-established with the last eruption. the 1955 eruption in Puna was the last before 2018… 60 years of no eruption is a long time with generational memories being short… people who bought land there took their chances and lost… I suspect that the “normal pattern” is going to resume… I would not buy anything in the Puna district.
My problem is to liquidate my inventory of semiprecious stones, some rough and others cut… my jewerly making days are long over… I am sending all of my precious metals to a refiner and selling off my semiprecious stones… trying to value to them is ridiculously complex…some of them have gone up ten fold in vlaue over the last 30 years… but the dollar now is worth only 10 cents of when the stones were bought…breaking even is not possible… buy at retail and sell at wholesale… quartz stones haven’t gone up in value much if any, due to their abundance… large sizes still are worth the same per ct. as small ones. Putting a value on turquoise is nuts… different colors and different matrix from the same mine… The only rough of value is robbin’s egg blue, matrix free untreated hard turquoise from castle dome…could have it cabbed and set in silver for a price, then I would have a further problem with disposing of finished jewelry… I did pick up a Pala rubellite 5ct pair for $500, 30 years ago… current prices at retail have gone up ten fold…each… also bought a padapraschda more orange than pink for $800… prices have not gone up commenserately… everything is all over the place.